mtgfandomcom-20200223-history
Invasion
Invasion is the twenty-first Magic expansion and was released in October 2000 as the first set in the Invasion block. Set details Invasion contains 350 black-bordered cards (110 rare, 110 uncommon, 110 common, and 20 basic lands). Invasion's expansion symbol is the symbol of the coalition, a cooperative effort of Dominarian forces from all five colors banded together to oppose Yawgmoth and the Phyrexians. The designers used parts of the unpublished Spectral Chaos set, that was designed by Barry Reich. The set introduced split cards and saw the return of multicolored "gold" cards, absent since the Stronghold expansion. In fact, its major themes revolved around multicolor decks and strategies. The popularity and appeal of gold cards along with high but balanced power level culminated into making Invasion one of the most popular Magic sets in the game's history. The set featured some legendary cards of the Weatherlight's crew: Captain Sisay and Hanna, Ship's Navigator. It also introduced the kavu. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name. In keeping with the focus on multicolored cards, Invasion also introduced the gradient dual-colored land text boxes for lands producing mana of two different colors, such as Coastal Tower and Elfhame Palace, which would be used in all subsequent expansions and editions of Magic. Storyline As the hordes of Phyrexia begin pouring into Dominaria, the world looks to Urza, planeswalker and master artificer, for defense against the onslaught. As entire cultures fall under the Phyrexian hell, Urza gathers heroes, renegades, common folk, and powerful artifacts to fight the invasion. Marketing Invasion was sold in 75-card tournament decks, 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Captain Sisay, Dromar, the Banisher and Kavu Titan. At Invasion prerelease events on September 23, 2000, a foil Kavu Furens was handed out as a novelty. This was a Raging Kavu printed with Latin text. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name. Tokens Several tokens for Invasion cards were offered as Magic Player Rewards. * 1/1 Saproling creature (for Verdeloth, the Ancient, Rith, the Awakener, Aura Mutation, Artifact Mutation, Saproling Symbiosis, Saproling Infestation) * 3/3 Elephant creature (for Assault//Battery) * 1/1 Bird creature with Flying (for Ordered Migration) Mechanics Invasion introduced the following mechanics: Invasion Frequently Asked Questions *Domain - cards which increase in power depending on the number of different basic lands you have in play. *Divvy - Phyrexian Portal from Alliances was the inspiration for this mechanic which a player separates a number of cards into two piles and the other player chooses what to do with them. *Kicker - pay an extra cost for a bonus effect. Invasion's five-colored Coalition Symbol, or at least part of it, is buried in the art of most cards with the kicker ability. Creature types The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Kavu, Plant. The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Angel, Assassin, Barbarian, Bird, Cat, Cleric, Crab, Djinn, Dragon, Drake, Dryad, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Giant, Goblin, Golem, Guardian (later changed to Soldier), Griffin, Horror, Knight, Leech, Lord (later changed to Elf), Merfolk, Minion, Mongoose, Rat, Serpent, Shade, Ship (later changed to Metathran), Skeleton, Soldier, Specter, Spider, Treefolk, Troll, Unicorn, Wall, Wizard, Wurm, Zombie. Cycles Invasion has 25 cycles: Pairs Invasion has two mirrored pairs. *Crusading Knight (white) and Marauding Knight (black): Each of these rare 2/2 knight creatures costs MM, has protection from the other's color, and gets +1/+1 for each land of a certain type (Swamps or Plains respectively) your opponents control. *Absorb (blue/white) and Undermine (blue/black): Each of these rare counterspells costs UUM and has the additional effect of causing a change in 3 life. Invasion has four parallel pairs. *Crimson Acolyte and Obsidian Acolyte: Each of these common 1/1 cleric creatures costs , has protection from one of white's enemy colors (Red or Black, respectively), and has an activated ability for that allows it to grant any target creature protection from the same enemy color. Even the flavor text is parallel. *Phyrexian Slayer and Phyrexian Reaper: Each of these common black creatures has an ability that says whenever this creature is blocked by a creature of one of black's enemy colors (White or Green, respectively), that creature is destroyed and can't be regenerated. *Artifact Mutation and Aura Mutation: Each of these rare instants sharing a cost destroy an artifact or enchantment (respectively) and then put X Saproling tokens into play equal to the converted mana cost of the destroyed artifact or enchantment. Their flavor texts are by the two maro-sorcerers (Molimo and Multani). *Canopy Surge and Breath of Darigaaz: These two mana sorceries deal 1 damage to each creature (either with or without flying) and player, or 4 damage if the kicker cost of was paid. from Invasion is an example of an alternate-win card.]] Reprinted cards The following 20 cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Invasion. *Angel of Mercy - was last seen in Starter 1999. *Blinding Light - was last seen in Starter 1999. *Crown of Flames - was last seen in Tempest. *Cursed Flesh - was last seen in Exodus. *Disrupt - was last seen in Weatherlight. *Fertile Ground was last seen in Battle Royale. *Harrow was last seen in Tempest. *Holy Day was last seen in Legends. *Lobotomy was last seen in Tempest. *Maniacal Rage was last seen in Battle Royale. *Phantasmal Terrain was last seen in 6th Edition. *Quirion Elves was last seen in Mirage. *Ravenous Rats was last seen in Starter 1999. *Reckless Spite was last seen in Tempest. *Shackles was last seen in Exodus. *Shimmering Wings was last seen in Tempest. *Simoon was last seen in Visions. *Soul Burn was last seen in Ice Age. *Stun was last seen in Tempest. *Tranquility - was last seen in Battle Royale. Functional reprints Invasion has eleven functional reprints: *Ancient Kavu is a functional reprint of Raging Spirit from Mirage, save for creature type. *Benalish Trapper is a functional reprint of Master Decoy from Tempest. *Horned Cheetah is a functional reprint of Zebra Unicorn from Mirage, save for creature type. *Hunting Kavu is a functional reprint of Giant Trap Door Spider from Ice Age, save for creature type. *Metathran Transport is a functional reprint of Fylamarid from Tempest, save for creature type. *Metathran Zombie is a functional reprint of Drowned from The Dark. *Phyrexian Battleflies is a functional reprint of Pit Imp from Tempest and Vampire Bats from Legends, save for creature type. *Razorfoot Griffin is a functional reprint of Ekundu Griffin from Mirage. *Teferi's Care is a functional reprint of Arenson's Aura from Ice Age. *Urborg Shambler is a functional reprint of Stronghold Taskmaster from Stronghold, save for creature type. *Vodalian Merchant is a functional reprint of Merfolk Traders from Weatherlight. Misprint *The prerelease version of Raging Kavu shows a copyright line of 1993-1999, and is the only Invasion card to have these dates; Invasion was released in late 2000. Notable cards *Absorb - Legacy Blue/White Control *Artifact Mutation - Vintage anti-artifact *Fact or Fiction still one of the more broken draw-cards blue has to offer. *Dueling Grounds *Fires of Yavimaya *Sabertooth Nishoba *Urza's Rage *Tribal Flames - Legacy 5C zoo Preconstructed decks Invasion has four theme decks. References External links Category:Invasion block